Sailboat balance seat

ABSTRACT

A generally shallow, S-shaped seat pivotally mounted on a gunwale of a sailboat from an inboard seating position to an outboard balancing position extending beyond the gunwale.

United States Patent 1191 Fisher et al.

1 SAILBOAT BALANCE SEAT [76] inventors: Robert E. Fisher, 6422 OldeStage Rd., Boulder, Colo. 80302; Leonard S. Matejcic, 707 Brooklawn Dr.,Boulder, Colo. 80303 [22] Filed: Oct. 5, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 404,040

52 u.s.c1. ..9/7,114/39 51 1111. C1 B63b 29/00 [58] Field of Search114/39, 124; 9/1 6,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,643,628 6/1953 Sveinsson114/39 1451- Jan. 28, 1975 3.145,682 8/1964 Truffert et al. .1 114/1213,265.026 8/1966 Hamilton 114/39 3 4l7,720 12/1968 Covcll 114/393,475,773 11/1969 Lodmun 9/1 R 3.570.029 3/1971 Hunsuker N 9/7 3.693.5739/1972 Murphy 9/1 R Primary Examiner-George E. A. Halvosa AssistantExaminer-Gregory W. O'Connor Anorney. Agent, or Firm-Richard D. Law

[57] ABSTRACT A generally shallow, S-shaped seat pivotally mounted on agunwale of a sailboat from an inboard seating position to an outboardbalancing position extending beyond the gunwale.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures SAILBOAT BALANCE SEAT This invention relatesto balance or hiking seats for small sailboats. I

In the art of sailing sailboats, particularly small sailboats, it issometimes necessary to have the boat crew and/or passengers sit on orover the upside gunwale in a heeling boat to balance the force of thewind in the sails. In many instances, the balancing people must leanwell over the side of the boat to provide additional balancing orballast against the force of the'wind in the sails. Obviously thisactivity has some inherent dangers, and a slip could mean a dunking orworse.

Various types of balancing or hiking means have been heretoforeprovided, including such things as sliding seats mounted on rails whichextend outwardly over the gunwales, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,643,628, whichincludes pivotal rail means for a sliding seat, and US. Pat. No.3,417,720, for laterally movable track means which move from either sideof the boat to permit a hiking seat to move outwardly beyond eithergunwale, and the well-known hiking straps which hang from the mast topermit the crew to stand on the boat side near the upside gunwalehanging on to the straps to provide balancing against the wind in thesails.

These devices are not entirely satisfactory for small sailboats whichcarry only one or two people. The small size of the boats generally cannot support extensive and heavy equipment, and, generally, the balancingis limited to leaning over the upside gunwale of the boat.

According to the present invention there is provided a lightweight seatwhich is mounted on a gunwale and which is arranged to pivot from aninboard sitting position to an outwardly extending balancing positionsuitable for hiking or balancing against the force of the wind in aheeling boat. The seat is easily and quickly flipped from one positionto the other, and it is sufficiently strong to resist any stress imposedon it by the balancing actions of the seats occupant.

It is, therefore, included among the objects and advantages of thepresent invention to provide a seat for small sailboats mounted on agunwale and pivotal from an inboard sitting position to an extendingoutboard hiking position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a comfortable seat pivotalfrom an inboard to an outboard extending position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pivotal hikingseat arranged for various attachments to a gunwale of a small sailboat.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a lightweight seatsupported at one side of a gunwale of i a small sailboat and arranged toprovide essentially the same configuration when positioned in either aninboard or an outboard extending configuration.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a pivotal hikingseat for small sailboats which is arranged for attachment to the gunwaleof existing small sailboats.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention may be readilyascertained by referring to the following description and appendedillustrations in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hiking seat according to the inventionillustrating one mode of attachment of the seat to a boat gunwale;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofa hiking seat according to the inventionillustrating a second mode of attachment of the seat to a boat gunwale;and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view ofa hiking seat according to the inventionpivoted to an outwardly extending balancing position from the gunwale ofa boat.

In the device selected for illustration, a hiking seat, shown in generalby numeral 10, has a general shape of a flattened S and is arranged tobe usable on either side, as explained below. The seat includes agenerally planar body 12 having one surface 12a which is in the topposition when the seat is in the inboard position and another surfacel2b which is in the up position when the seat is pivotedto an outboardposition. The seat includes a short leg 14 at one side of the planarsurface 12 and another short leg 16 on the opposite side. In the inboardposition the leg 14 provides a short back for the seat 12a and the leg16 provides a turned under seat front for comfort. In the outboardposition the leg 16 provides the back for the seat 12b while the leg 14provides a stop against a boat gunwale 20a, as shown in FIG. 2, or theboat gunwale 20b shown in FIG. 3. The seat is mounted by means of apivot pin 22 that extends through'a lower portion of leg 14, and thepivot pin 22 is mounted in various types of pivot pin supports, as shownin the various figures and explained below.

The seat support shown in FIG. 1 includes a pair of upright supportmembers 24 and 25 formed as square tubes, arranged to telescope intubular brackets 24a and 25a, respectively, which are affixed to gunwale20. These brackets extend upwardly to hold members 24 and 25 to providepivotal movement of the seat about pivot pin 22 pivotally secured to themembers 24 and 25. This permits the seat to move from an outboard to aninboard position and vice versa. The uprights 24 and 25 may, however, besecured to the gunwale by other known means including screws, bolts andthe like, but a temporary supporting arrangement is preferred. Theupright brackets are shown as secured to the outside of the hull orgunwale, however, they may be positioned horizontally on top of thegunwale or in grooves or bores in the gunwale.

In the arrangement of FIG. 2, the pivot pin 22 is mounted in anglebrackets 26 each of which include a downward extension 27 arranged fortemporarily extending into the bores in the gunwale 20a, and thus thebrackets are supported in position for permitting the seat 10 to pivotaround the pivot pin 22 which is securely held in the pivot supportfixtures 26.

In the seat support shown in FIG. 3, a pair of tubular members 30(similar to tubular members 24a and 25a) are secured to the gunwale inproperly spaced position and a pivotal arm 32, rotatably secured to thepivot pin 22, extends into the tubes 30 to releasably support the seaton the gunwale 20b. While the tube is shown square, obviously it may beof any other configuration desired and the pivot arm 32 of course mustcorrespond in general shape to the tube for telescoping therein.

The seat is used on a small sailboat by providing the fixtures forsecuring the seat pivotally to a gunwale and preferably it is arrangedthat the pivot near the outside edge of the gunwale so that the seatwhen pivoted inboardly will rest on top of the gunwale and support theseat for a passenger sitting on the side of the boat with the feethanging in the cockpit. With the pivot pin near the outer edge of thegunwale the seat may be pivoted to an outer position as shown in FIG. 3so that the passenger or crewman may sit out beyond the gunwale andprovide additional weight on the upside gunwale against the force of thewind in the sails. In either position the seat provides a short backwhich prevents sliding off the seat and provides some support for thepassenger. The seat may be made of plastic. laminated plastic, forexample, synthetic resin with a glass fiber filling, metal, wood, or anydesired material which is light and provides sufficient strength tosupport a person sitting on the seat in the extended position.Generally, the seat is made as a one piece member. Further. the materialshould preferably be resistant to water. The pins and support fixturesare preferably of brass since they are resistant to water andparticularly sea water, or other metal likewise resistant to water.

I claim:

l. A hiking or balancing seat for small sailing craft comprising a seatmember having opposed upper and lower seating surfaces and short legsextending in opposite directions from opposed edges of said surfaces andeach at an angle to the plane of said surfaces forming a back for eachsurface; pivot means at one of said legs of said seat; means forattaching said pivot means on the gunwale of a boat whereby said seatmember may be pivoted from an inboard position providing a seat to anoutboard extending position outwardly from the gunwale providing a seat;and stop means for said seat supporting it in one of said positionsextending from the gunwale and the craft gunwale supports the seat inthe opposite direction.

2. A seat according to claim 1 wherein one of said legs provides saidstop means with the seat in an outward extending direction.

3. A seat according to claim 2 wherein said pivot means is positioned atabout the intersection of one leg and said seat member.

4. A seat according to claim 1 wherein said pivot means is pivotallysecured to the outer edge of a craft gunwale.

5. A seat according to claim 4 wherein said means for attaching saidpivot means is removable from the gun wale.

1. A hiking or balancing seat for small sailing craft comprising a seatmember having opposed upper and lower seating surfaces and short legsextending in opposite directions from opposed edges of said surfaces andeach at an angle to the plane of said surfaces forming a back for eachsurface; pivot means at one of said legs of said seat; means forattaching said pivot means on the gunwale of a boat whereby said seatmember may be pivoted from an inboard position providing a seat to anoutboard extending position outwardly from the gunwale providing a seat;and stop means for said seat supporting it in one of said positionsextending from the gunwale and the craft gunwale supports the seat inthe opposite direction.
 2. A seat according to claim 1 wherein one ofsaid legs provides said stop means with the seat in an outward extendingdirection.
 3. A seat according to claim 2 wherein said pivot means ispositioned at about the intersection of one leg and said seat member. 4.A seat according to claim 1 wherein said pivot means is pivotallysecured to the outer edge of a craft gunwale.
 5. A seat according toclaim 4 wherein said means for attaching said pivot means is removablefrom the gunwale.